Then how do you explain ‘Their’?

Iirc there are more words that disprove the rule than abide by it.

And Steinway Pianos…
Pfft.. 🙄

Only if the sound is ‘ee’

It’s weird isn’t it?

I think Mr Fry explains it quite well:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=duqlZXiIZqA[/video]

Yep, tomhoward’s got it, teaching of that ‘rule’ has been abandoned, since there’s more exceptions to it than there are adherences.

Well, it’s what I was taught so I’m stuck with it I suppose… 😉

Only if the sound is ‘ee’

Weir?.. especially if you say weeeir. 😉

We’re at the weird weir on the River Wear. Are you here?

Yep, tomhoward’s got it, teaching of that ‘rule’ has been abandoned, since there’s more exceptions to it than there are adherences.

Teaching it badly more like, I was always told it was for the sound of ‘ee’.

Of course DD seized the moment and pointed out there are exceptions.

I think our posts were simultaneous. It wasn’t intended as a rebuttal.

And Steinway Pianos…

German innit. They have it nailed – ie and ei are different sounds.

Yep, tomhoward’s got it, teaching of that ‘rule’ has been abandoned, since there’s more exceptions to it than there are adherences.

Taking a 216,558 word english dictionary, and “ie” and “ei” being next to each other in the word:

I before E words: 13,374
I before E after C: 3,242
I before E not after C: 9,809

E before I: 2,271
E before I after C: 323
E before I not after C: 1,948

Words that follow the rule: 10,132
Words that do not follow the rule: 5,190

I’m bored, this may or may not be correct.

Society

I always remember this because when I was offered my v first job, the senior partner told me that I was the first person who had been given a job there despite making a spelling mistake (soceity) on his application form! He did laugh when I told him about the i before e rule though!

So if you follow the rule you will only spell 1 out of 3 “ie” words wrong then ?

Better than my normal average.

I’m in 😀

Like Drac, I was taught, “when the vowel sounds like ‘ee’, it’s I before the E except after C.” There are exceptions, but not as many as it appears. It’s actually not a bad rule of thumb when you get the whole thing rather than the half everyone remembers.

“Weird” isn’t an exception, it’s pronounced wee-ird, not wee-rd. The vowel sound isn’t a simple ‘ee’.

I’m bored, this may or may not be correct.

It’s largely irrelevant as you’re only applying half of the rule. You’d have to be very bored to calculate all their pronunciations though.

It’s largely irrelevant as you’re only applying half of the rule.

Half of your rule, you mean. It’s not cool to move the goalposts and proclaim I missed after I’ve already hit the back of the net 😉 – it’s the sort of thing men with beards do to win arguments!